For more places to hike, climb and explore, and Trails within 15 minutes of every California home and workplace.

Indexed News on:

--the California "Mega-Park" Project

Tracking measurable success on efforts across California to preserve and connect our Parks & Wildlife CorridorsWE POST NEWS THREE WAYS:1. long detailed stories on blogspot (here!)2. short messages on Twitter3. automated news feeds from CA enviro websites in the right-hand column which change frequently and are not archived by our website (that's why we now have a twitter account to permanently capture the memorable feeds)

P G & E Bankruptcy Settlement Leads to Huge Land GiveawayThe Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council, manages 140,000 acres owned by Pacific Gas & Electric, http://www.stewardshipcouncil.org/
The Stewardship Council is tasked with ensuring the permanent
protection of over 140,000 acres of land for the benefit of the citizens
of California and is working on plans to donate the land to the government or non-profit land conservation groups.

BUYING LAND:California Wildlife Conservation Board, http://www.wcb.ca.gov/State agency that has purchased 400,000 acres since 1/1/2000 and acquired conservation easements on over 263,000 acres of land

Resources Legacy Fund, http://www.resourceslegacyfund.org/Works
to: Conserve or restore natural landscapes, protect and enhance marine
systems, and preserve wildlands and wilderness; Promote and facilitate
well-planned community growth;Preserve prime farmlands threatened by
sprawl. The Fund’s Conserving California Landscapes Initiative (CCLI)
is the largest land conservation program in American history. Started in
March 1998, this innovative and successful five-year, $175 million
initiative of the David and Lucile Packard
Foundation pioneered numerous collaborative strategies and processes
and served as a magnet for over $764 million in leveraged funds that led
to the protection of more than 420,000 acres of beautiful, productive,
and richly diverse California lands in three regions: the Central Coast,
Central Valley, and Sierra Nevada, along with the development of
supportive policies and organizations. The Fund also runs the Preserving
Wild California program.

California Rangeland Trust, http://www.rangelandtrust.org/Works with ranch owners to buy development rights; has worked on the conservation of the Hearst Ranch in San Luis Obispo County, the El Chorro Ranch in Santa Barbara County, and the Sierra Valley north of Lake Tahoe

The Trust for Public Land, to read their 2006 annual report for California: http://tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=21076&folder_id=266 . In
2006, TPL brokered the preservation of 23,000 acres of land either by
sale to the government of full ownership or by the sale of development
rights with the land retained by private owners

The above map is part of the California Recreational Trails Plan. Click on it to enlarge. To see the full plan, click here

Pacific Crest Trail Association , http://www.pcta.org
Zigzagging its way from Mexico to Canada through
California, Oregon and Washington, the Pacific
Crest Trail (PCT) boasts the greatest elevation
changes of any of America's National Scenic Trails,
allowing it to pass through six out of seven of
North America's ecozones including high and low desert,
old-growth forest and artic-alpine country. Indeed, the PCT
is a trail of diversity and extremes. From scorching
desert valleys in Southern California to rain
forests in the Pacific Northwest, the PCT offers
hikers and equestrians a unique, varied experience.

FIGHTING GIVEAWAYS OF PUBLIC LAND TO PRIVATE INTERESTS:http://www.landgrant.org/11.5
Million acres of California public land intended for homesteaders was
instead given to timber, mining, and real estate corporations. This
totals around 12% of the total acreage of California. The
railroads were given lands arranged in a checkerboard fashion in a swath
40 miles wide (or 20 miles on either side of the tracks) with the
federal government keeping 1/2 the squares and the railroads getting the
other half. The failure of the railroad land grant policy is the cause
of many of today's economic, political, and environmental problems,
including deforestation, toxic waste, and taxpayer subsidies. The
Railroads & Clearcuts Campaign intends to hold government and
corporations accountable, and to reclaim this land to the public domain.

MAP OF THE 40 MILE WIDE SWATH (YELLOW) IN WHICH HALF OF THE LAND WAS GIVEN TO THE RAILROADS:

Range Watch, http://www.rangewatch.org/Citizen
Watchdogs of Our Industry-Grazed Public Lands. The mission of Range
Watch is to reduce the economic and ecological cost to the American
public from commercial grazing on our public lands.

WILDLIFE PROTECTORS:Defenders of Wildlife, http://www.defenders.org/Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals
and plants in their natural communities. We focus our programs on what
scientists consider two of the most serious environmental threats to the
planet: the accelerating rate of extinction of species and the
associated loss of biological diversity, and habitat alteration and
destruction.

Mountain Lion Foundation, http://www.mountainlion.org/dedicated
to protecting the mountain lion and their wild habitat to ensure that
our wildlife heritage endures for future generations.

California Natural Diversity Database, www.dfg.ca.gov/whdab/html/cnddb.htmlIs a program that inventories the status and locations of rare plants and animals in California
. CNDDB staff work with partners to maintain current lists of rare
species as well as maintain an ever-growing database of GIS-mapped
locations for these species.

PROTECTING FEDERAL LANDS AS PRISTINE WILDERNESS:California Wilderness Coalition, http://www.calwild.org/working hard for the passage of legislation designating new wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers in California

California Wild Heritage Campaign, http://www.californiawild.org/broad based coalition with only one goal - to preserve California's unprotected wilderness and wild rivers for future generations to enjoy

The Wilderness Society, http://wilderness.org/Our
Mission: Deliver to future generations an unspoiled legacy of wild
places, with all the precious values they hold: Biological diversity;
clean air and water; towering forests, rushing rivers, and sage-sweet,
silent deserts.Our Programs Include: Protecting the last great
American wilderness area, the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, from oil and gas
drilling; Staving off logging and road building on 58 million acres of
roadless lands; Curbing the abuse of our lands by off-road vehicle
users; Protecting America's wild places in Alaska and the lower 48
states from rampant oil development.Wilderness Information Network

http://www.wilderness.net/Wilderness.net
is an Internet-based tool connecting the natural resource workforce,
scientists, educators, and the public to their wilderness heritage
through ready access to wilderness information.

www.wildernesswatch.org based in Montanadedicated
solely to the protection and proper stewardship of lands and rivers
included in the National Wilderness Preservation System and National
Wild & Scenic Rivers System.

LITIGATORS:Center for Biological Diversity, http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/Combining
conservation biology with litigation, policy advocacy, and an
innovative strategic vision, the Center for Biological Diversity is
working to secure a future for animals and plants hovering on the brink
of extinction, for the wilderness they need to survive, and by extension
for the spiritual welfare of generations to come.

Earthjustice Legal Fund, http://www.earthjustice.org/Earthjustice
(formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) is a non-profit public
interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places,
natural resources, and wildlife of this earth and to defending the right
of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching
change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of
hundreds of organizations and communities.

California Native Plant Society, http://www.cnps.org/
Formed in 1965 in the east bay region, the California Native Plant
Society works to increase understanding and appreciation of California's
native plants and to conserve them and their natural habitats through
education, science, advocacy, horticulture and land stewardship.

WATER USE REFORM: Public Citizen, www.citizen.org/cmep/water/Public
Citizen's Water for All Campaign is dedicated to protecting water as a
common resource, stopping water privatization and bulk water sales, and
defending access to clean and affordable water around the world.

American Farmland Trust, http://www.farmland.org/is leading a campaign to transform U.S.
farm policy. Our vision is for well-managed, protected farm and ranch
land that provides open space, clean water, healthy food, wildlife
habitat and a renewed connectedness between the farm community and the
rest of America.

Community Alliance with Family Farmers, http://www.caff.org/is
building a movement of rural and urban people to foster family-scale
agriculture that cares for the land, sustains local economies and
promotes social justice.

RIVERS AND OCEAN:Friends of the River, http://www.friendsoftheriver.org/Founded in 1973, Friends of the River is dedicated to preserving and restoring California's rivers, streams, and their watersheds as well as advocating for sustainable water management.

Surfrider Foundation, http://surfrider.org/
The Surfrider Foundation is a grassroots, non-profit, environmental
organization that works to protect our oceans, waves, and beaches.
Founded in 1984, Surfrider Foundation's most important coastal
environmental work is carried out by Surfrider Foundation's 60 chapters located along the East, West, Gulf, Puerto Rican, and Hawaiian coasts.

Pacific Rivers Council, http://www.pacrivers.org/,
mission is to protect and restore rivers, their watersheds, and native
aquatic species. Since 1987, PRC has promoted a whole watershed approach
to aquatic conservation based on sound science. COASTAL PRESERVATION:

Vote the Coast, http://www.votethecoast.org/ Vote
the Coast is the only organization focused on the political arena as it
pertains to coastal protection and the California Coastal Act.

http://www.visualjourneys.net/Visual
Journeys combines the art of photography with education and activism to
take viewers on eye opening trips through our nations most endangered
landscapes. Our primary area of focus is the beautiful South Coast, Mojave, and Sonoran Ecoregions of southern California.